Last year our Chanukah was brightened by Glacier, our extremely large puppy. I’d like to say that I take Glacier on walks every day. But the truth is, she walks me. One morning this past summer we were out for our morning walk when I saw a swastika spray-painted on a sign in my neighbor’s yard. Eight houses down from ours. A swastika. I wish that this was a unique experience, but increasingly it is not. My neighbors sprang to action and painted over the vandalized sign.
Just over a year ago, we saw insurrectionists at the January 6 Capitol riot and wearing shirts emblazoned with the message 6MWE – 6 million weren’t enough. The ADL is now reporting well over a thousand antisemitic incidents a year, along with an uptick in assaults, vandalism, and hate speech. Following the events in Gaza this past summer, American Jews were targeted, harassed, and physically attacked by people who want to delegitimize Israel. We have seeing growing trends of antisemitism in our schools and public spaces.
There are many things that we can do in our community to build strong and resilient Jewish lives. And our Jewish community must continue to build strong bridges of relationship with the multi-religious community in Charlotte. Why? Because, those who peddle in hate try to stoke fear that divides and consumes us. If we in the Jewish community retreat into safe cocoons, afraid to engage with the non-Jewish world we will become more “otherized.” It’s why I have recently joined the board of Mecklenburg Ministries, the Interfaith Council for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and am working with a cohort of Muslim Imams and Evangelical pastors.
Temple Beth El is committed to interfaith work as a congregation and community, to build bridges of partnership and relationship and understanding. Because real partnerships means showing up for others and having them show up for us. At Temple Beth El we do this through learning and through partnerships of social action and justice, dialogue and conversation. We have many opportunities to partner across lines of faith and to help make Charlotte a better city. We lead volunteer projects and advocacy efforts that address income inequality, access to quality healthcare, public education, and climate justice. We have also strived to keep racial justice at the center of our work, and are always seeking to partner and collaborate with other organizations, institutions, and individuals whose efforts we might support or bolster.
We also build relationships of depth through learning. We recently held a series focused on the Hebrew Bible with Myers Park Baptist, with Rev. Mia Mclain speaking from the bima for our Justice Shabbat.
On Tuesdays in February, Temple is hosting our annual Comparative Religion Series, titled: In the Beginning: Exploring the Origin Stories of Faith. We will explore the origin of many of our world’s religious traditions, not just of how different faiths describe the way the world came to be but also how those origins contribute to the faith, culture and beliefs of each religion. Religions offer rich and fascinating dimensions of the human experience. Together, we will look at both similarities and some of the beautiful distinctions and differences offered by various faiths.
The Charlotte Jewish community has a role to play in constructing even more bridges with the non-Jewish world. We can live up to the values and ethics of prophetic Judaism and building relationships of depth and meaning across our city. When we do this well, antisemites will never succeed with their divisive tactics of hate.
